A Dark Perplexity
by Lexicer
Summary: “Say Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?” I felt a tug at my heart as he said that. The truth was, I had no idea where I was from. Somehow, I just ended up here on the shore one day. It felt as if something was missing...


_My second Fan Fiction _:O _I know! I'm amazed too. I actually wrote this last week, like a day after Lies. _O.o _But I made you wait!! Muhaha! I'm sorry. I'M A WOMAN POSSESSED! Who knew writing was so much fun!? So this time its Kingdom Hearts. I felt the need to write a KH story because I love that game so much…so yes. This is basically Destiny Islands from Kairi's POV. There were times where I was like _"NO! Its crap! I can't post this!" _But I decided to anyway. _:D _So I hope it doesn't suck…and enjoy!_

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, and I don't own its characters. It all belongs to Square Enix and Disney. I wish I owned it though because then I would own Sora…need I say more?

A Dark Perplexity

I crept out the wooden door that led to the other half of the island, and let out a huge sigh of relief that Riku hadn't seen me escape. I wasn't ditching him! I was just…partaking in the natural beauty of our landscape.

…

Okay, fine! I just wanted to take an itsy, bitsy break. I was tired! It gets exhausting, lifting wood all day, then hammering said wood together. I completely and totally deserved a break from that raft. As I snuck around the wooden hut, I saw a figure lying in the sand.

I immediately knew it was Sora. It's kind of hard to confuse him with anyone else; who else has gravity-defying hair and flamboyant red pants?

I skipped over, preparing to scold him. I mean…no, I wasn't working at that exact point in time, but I had been working slightly harder than him! As I neared him, I noticed he was asleep; he was **so** cute when he slept. I hovered over him and giggled. He seemed to be having a dream, twitching a little in slumber.

"Sora!" I said in an attempt to stir him. It was to no avail, so I sucked in a big breath and shouted. "SORA!"

At that, he stirred just so, but it was enough. His eyes flickered open as he lifted himself up lazily; he gazed at the ocean for a few seconds as though he hadn't seen me. How dense was this guy? I screamed his name and he still didn't realize it was me? I was insulted.

Sora gave a wide yawn and started to lay back down when I stood over his head, impeding him from seeing anything but my face.

"Woah!" he shouted in surprise, swinging himself into a sitting position. I couldn't stop a giggle from escaping my throat.

"Give me a break, Kairi," he said, glaring at me.

Feeling playful, I replied, "Sora, you lazy bum. I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here." Oh, I had him then! When wit strikes me, there's just no stopping it. I'm a verbal genius, what can I say?

Okay, so I didn't exactly know he was snoozing down here, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?

"No, this huge black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breath, I couldn't –" he began, stopping abruptly when I smacked him on the head. I figured he hadn't completely come out of his dream, and I really didn't want to listen to him talk about the deep significance of his latest incubus for the rest of the day.

"Are you still dreaming?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He looked up at me, his eyes afire with ostentation. "It wasn't a dream!" he cried; pausing, he glanced down and continued. "Or was it? I don't know."

His eyes, confused and thoughtful, stared down at the sand as I gazed at him. I had known Sora and Riku for a long time now, but I had a better connection with Sora than with Riku. I don't know if it was the age difference, or something else entirely, but this understanding preoccupied my thoughts often.

"What was that place?" he asked himself quietly. "So bizzare."

"Yeah, sure," I said, hoping he'd drop it.

I started walking towards the shore when he suddenly he called to me with a question I had heard many times before.

"Say Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?"

I felt a tug at my heart as he said that. The truth was, I had no idea where I was from. Somehow, I just ended up here on the shore one day. It felt as if something was missing from my memories, like something had been ripped away; I didn't know who my family was, or if they were even alive. It took its toll on me sometimes.

"I've told you before that I don't remember," I explained, trying to hide my emotions.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

I felt his stare burn a hole in my back as he pressed further into the topic. "You ever wanna go back?" he asked.

"Well…" I began, thinking about my answer, "I'm happy here." Which was true, because I was happy here with Riku and Sora; but, still in spite of that, the empty place in my heart remained, a hole even they couldn't fill.

"Really?" Sora asked. I don't think he completely believed me. He could always read me well, though his head didn't always seem to be in the game.

"But you know…" I added, "I wouldn't mind going to see it!"

This piqued Sora's interest. "I'd like to see it, and any other worlds out there. I wanna see 'em all!" he exclaimed, brimming with excitement.

His resolve made me forget my obscure past and I felt myself grinning with him. "So what are we wating for?" I asked eagerly.

Suddenly, a voice shouted, "Hey! Aren't you guys forgetting about me?"

It was Riku, holding a sizable log; he raised an eyebrow at the two of us. "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft."

He tossed the log playfully at Sora, who collapsed underneath its weight. I laughed at Sora's frustrated face when Riku strolled up to me, coolly stating that I was as lazy as Sora.

Riku and I had an interesting relationship; we had this game that we played. I knew he liked me, in a romantic way kind of like, but I couldn't return his feelings. Don't get me wrong, I loved him to death, but just as a friend. Harsh, I know, but true to the nth degree. The problem was that when he flirted with me, I just had to flirt back. It's a girl thing! Who doesn't like having sexy, strong boys fall for them? He made my self-confidence go sky high. I was just a teenage girl whose life was ruled by hormones and Mountain Dew. I couldn't control myself! It was a hopeless situation.

I laughed. "So you noticed? Okay then, we'll finish it together! I'll race you!" The easiest way to get them moving was to give them a challenge; if knowing the two of them taught me nothing else, it was that a challenge saw something finished.

Riku simply sat down next to Sora, both giving me looks of opposition and astonisment. Perhaps, not.

"Huh?"

"What? Are you kidding?"

There was still hope, however! I gave a small chuckle and shouted, "Ready? GO!"

At first, neither boy moved, and just stared at each other. My smile wilted the tiniest bit, thinking I had actually miscalculated my actions when suddenly both boys sprang to their feet and ran to the raft. My wide grin returned, and I chased them,giggling like a maniac.

As we approached the raft, Riku regained a semblance of seriousness.

"Okay," he said, "the sail is still a little unsteady, so I say we work on that."

"Yes, sir!" I replied with a salute. Sora stumbled as he ran, clutching his sides in laughter.

Riku wasn't as amused; he rolled his eyes. "We really need to get this done, guys, so try to stay focused. Alright?" Sora and I nodded eagerly. _I will stay completely focused,_ I thought to myself, _and finish this boat. Nothing can distract me! Aww! Look at the fishies. Wait, no! Focus, Kairi._

I began working on the raft, determined to not disappoint Riku, but it was harder than I thought. Who knew that construction work was so **dull**? Even Sora seemed to have a hard time staying awake.

Riku eventually ceased his labours, realizing that we had run out of wood. "I'll go get some," he said, "but you two can't leave this raft, understood?" We nodded slowly. Having seen his orders were to be followed, Riku quickly left.

Waiting, I glanced longingly at the shore, wishing for this monotinous task to be over, when the sparkle of a shell caught my eye; it wasn't just any shell, though.

"A thalassa shell!" I squealed in joy.

I ran to it and scooped it up. As I held it to the sun to properly inspect, Sora came up behind me and asked curiously, "What's a thalassa shell?"

"It's a rare shell that sailors once treasured," I replied. "Help me find some more!"

We walked along the shore, laughing and talking while keeping a lookout for shells; eventually, we found four shells, along with a hermit crab Sora named "Turtle". Unfortunately, I needed one more shell to make a lucky charm.

Way back in the day, sailors would make lucky charms out of thalassa shells in hope of a safe voyage. It would be perfect to put on our raft, but I needed five shells to make one; I was starting to get a little frustrated because, as fun as it had been, we had been looking all day.

Then, it hit me: I had completely forgotten about the raft! I turned to Sora, but my gaze went to the silver-haired figure behind him. Sora saw my surprised expression and followed my line of vision. "Oh," he said. He scratched the back of his neck and added, "Sorry, Riku. Kairi was looking for these rare shells, and I guess we just kind of got distracted."

"Mmhmm," Riku said, clearly unhappy.

I ran up to him, poised to take my share of the blame, and said, "I am so sorry, Riku! I saw a thalassa shell on the shore and asked Sora to come help me find more. It's comletely my fault. I'm sorry!"

"That is so not true!" Sora shouted as he ran to join us. "It was my fault, too! I could've just said no."

"We all know you really couldn't have, Sora," Riku sighed, giving a tired smile. "It's okay. There wasn't much left to do anyway." I looked down in shame, but Riku patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it." I glanced at Sora, who looked just as guilty and somewhat relieved.

"Well, since its getting late, you guys wanna call it a day and head to the islet?" asked Riku.

Sora and I looked up, grinning at Riku's quick forgiveness, and he laughed. "You guys are such dopes sometimes!" We all shared a laugh, and headed to the islet.

Just before we got to the hut to walk up the stairs, I felt Sora yank on my hand.

"Look!" he cried, pointing out near the ocean. Studying the sand, I gasped as I caught sight of a small thalassa shell. He raced to get it, as the tide was about to take it back in. Throwing himself in the sand, Sora captured it; staring at it for a moment, he turned to me with a huge grin. "Now you have all you need, right?"

I nodded happily and graciously took it as he rose and handed the fragile shell to me.

He looked at me quizzically and asked, "What are you gonna do with them anyway?"

I looked down at my shells. "It's a secret," I said with a devious smile. He immediately frowned. "Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow," I continued. I poked him playfully in the chest, and his grin returned.

o-o-o

Later, we found ourselves at our favorite paupu tree, Sora sitting on its trunk to the right, while Riku leaned against it to the left. I jumped up in between them.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, until Sora suddenly shattered it with a question.

"So Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?"

I felt the familiar tug and was just about to answer when Riku replied first.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here."

He was always so philosophical, the complete opposite of Sora. Sora was curious, like a kitten, where Riku was all-knowing, like an owl.

...I've always thought kittens were cuter.

"But how far could a raft take us?" Sora questioned still; I was wondering the same thing. It was a raft. What was it gonna do? Get to the end of the world, then fall off the side onto a different world? I didn't really know how this whole thing was going to play out, but if it meant a whole day hanging out with these two, I didn't really care what we did. If anything, it was sure to be fun!

"Who knows; if we have to, we'll think of something else," Riku replied with a stoic expression, staring at the water.

"So, suppose you get to another world," I asked, "What would you do there?"

I would go shopping, no questions asked.

Riku pondered for a few seconds. "Well," he began, "I haven't really thought about it."

Haven't thought about it? Is that joke? How do you plan on going to another world without having a clue what you're going to do when you got there? I swear, he's a confusing one, Riku.

"It's just…" he continued, "I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"

Even though I didn't like Riku in that way, he was so sexy when he came up with these clever little inquiries of his.

"And suppose there are other worlds," he continued still, "then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" Sora and I looked at him in awe. Riku sure did a lot of thinking.

After a moment, Sora flopped down on the trunk. "I don't know," he groaned, his tone showing the toll heavy thinking was doing to his tired body. I rolled my eyes. He was so simple, but that's what made him so cute!

"Exactly," Riku said smugly, "and that's why we need to go out there and find out." He pushed himself off the trunk and stopped. "Just sitting here won't change a thing," he added. "It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

I looked at him curiously and said, "You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" I didn't think the raft was that big of a deal to him, but I guess it made sense. Riku was the one who was constantly working on it, while Sora and I wandered off in search of more amusing things. I had never imagined Riku cared so much about this trip.

He turned to look at me and replied, "Thanks to you." I blushed an embarrassing shade of red as he said this. I could feel Sora watching our humiliating conversation. "If you hadn't come here, I probably never would have thought of any of this." I fidgeted under his intense gaze. I didn't know he thought that highly of me. "Kairi, thanks."

I quickly met his gaze and gave a shaky laugh. "You're welcome," I said, hoping that would end the conversation there. He simply nodded and announced that it was getting late. I glanced at Sora, who looked dismally to the sea.

Jumping off the trunk, I scampered across the bridge to the stairs of our miniscule hut and out the door. I thought the boys had been following me, but when I turned around, they weren't anywhere to be seen.

I glanced around until I saw them on the bridge. Sora was staring intently at a paopu fruit while Riku said something to him and walked away soon after.

What was Sora doing with a paopu fruit? There wasn't someone he liked, was there? Suddenly, I became very caught up in my thoughts as to who this little mystery woman might be; and suddenly, I became a **very** unhappy camper.

I didn't want Sora to like another girl. I knew we weren't together or anything, but the thought of him being all lovey dovey with some woman made me want to vomit. And yes, I do consider myself a woman! I may have small boobs, but they **do** exist, and I get visited by Mother Nature every month! How much more womanly can you get?

With thoughts still circling around in my head, I turned on my heel and headed towards my boat.

When Riku and Sora caught up to me at the pier, Sora no longer had that stupid yellow, star-shaped fruit. I felt relief wash over me and a wide grin pull at my face. We said our goodbyes and headed home.

As I rowed back to shore, I was rather confused. I pondered why I even cared whether or not Sora shared a paopu with another woman. It's not like I'd confessed or anything like that, so it shouldn't really matter, but it did, though why it did evaded me, because there really was no need to be upset, because, after all, I hadn't confessed.

While I walked the shore, I couldn't help but think I should say something, to stop my stress if nothing else. Then, I realized, if he doesn't feel the same way, it'll be **incredibly** awkward, and we couldn't possibly be friends after that; and that would be worse than anything else I could imagine.

Raging hormones can do such confusing things to a person.

**CH. 1 END**

_Phew! Second Fan Fiction complete! An attempt at a kinda-sorta-not-really comedy. Lighthearted? Yes. That sounds about right. I'm sorry if no one laughed. I hope I eased at least one tiny chuckle out of you. A smile? A twitch? No? Well then I'm sorry to tell you that there will most likely be another chapter! _O.o _Crazy, I know. Please review! Tell me what you hated and what you loved. I'll still love you! _:D _With that being said…I bid thee adieu._

_And thank you so much to Raeith! This story would have sucked without her. So you should thank her too. She made all my problem areas in the story disappear. Thank you! _:D


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